'Post' joins IDF mortar team, supporting Rafah operations from the Gaza border

As one makes one’s way south along the Gaza border, the landscape becomes dry and parched. Not far from the Egyptian border Road 232, which runs parallel to the Gaza border, traverses a group of trees. These have all been cut down, and now the view of the landscape stretches all the way down toward the Gaza border. 

These are the same roads that Hamas attacked on Oct. 7, waylaying vehicles and killing people.

Now this area is the access route to the IDF’s positions near Rafah. The 162nd Division has been operating inside Rafah since the night of May 6, after Hamas terrorists attacked a group of IDF soldiers near the Kerem Shalom crossing, killing five. 

These days, the border is quiet. The fighting in Rafah lasted about a month. The IDF reached the Mediterranean Sea and secured the Philadelphi Corridor. The IDF also entered parts of Rafah City. However, it is now reducing some of its activities in the zone.

In a field near one of the roads that bisects this area are a group of tents and armored vehicles. Underneath one of the tents, a group of couches and chairs are placed in a semi-circle. There’s a small table. The soldiers, members of the 7th company of the Nahal Brigades 50th Battalion, are operating mortars to support operations across the border. A mortar is a type of short-range artillery. Mortar shells often have a bulbous body and small fins at the end. They come in a number of sizes. The IDF uses a heavy 120-mm. mortar and a smaller 81-mm. one.

The goal of these men is to support the operations of the 12th Brigade. As one soldier describes the current setup of IDF units here, it’s a bit “like a Lego set.” This is because, usually, the Nahal’s mortar company wouldn’t necessarily be supporting the 12th Brigade of reservists, known as the Negev Brigade.

However, as part of operations in Gaza, the 12th is one of a number of units within the larger 162nd Division that has been tasked with defeating terrorism across the border. Mortars can fly around 7 km., so the men are able to sit here in a field, somewhat removed from the battle, and provide close support for the troops on the other side.

The men in this unit remember Oct. 7 clearly. Most of them were not on the border that day. However, four members of the unit were killed at Sufa, a small IDF outpost near Kibbutz Sufa. The fallen on Oct. 7 were Staff Sgt. Tal Levy; Sgt. Amir Lavi; Sgt. Segev Schwartz; and Sgt. Nachman Deke.

The realities

The men I meet in the field in early June describe the dilemmas they faced that difficult day when they scrambled to reach the border and join the fight against Hamas. 

These guys are all young soldiers doing their mandatory service. They include 2nd Lt. Roei Ovadia; Staff Sgt. Hadar Shor; Staff Sgt. Benjamin Lavi; Staff Sgt. Ron Bilkovich; Staff Sgt. Shahar Ries; and Staff Sgt. Netanel Vaknin.

For units like this, the war has been transformative. The IDF doesn’t usually use mortars against terrorists in places such as the West Bank. These men thought their service might be like those who had come before over the last years. Instead, they’ve been thrown into the cauldron of war for eight months, and they’ve fired thousands of mortars

“We had a lot here with us to learn. And we do a lot of collaboration to close the circle,” says one of the men. What he means by “closing the circle” is the amount of time it takes from when a threat or target is identified until the target is hit or eliminated. 

In the old days, a mortar squad would be in the field near the soldiers it is supporting. It would get a call from the guys who are under fire or who want to bring down fire on a location. The squad would then have to manually calibrate the mortars, which would have, say, on a tripod on the ground. This takes time and isn’t that accurate. Nowadays there are computers to help, as well as drones and a lot of other technology. 

The mortar is a simple system. Today, the IDF uses it precisely. “We have taken a simple weapon and made it very smart and sophisticated,” says one soldier. “We are here to support the battalion,” another soldiers says. The IDF can deploy various types of mortars, from smoke to illumination to high explosives. Recently, it began using the Iron Sting precision mortar system developed by defense company Elbit Systems.

The men provide a tour of their position. As in every unit, there is a mixed collection of young men here. Some of them like cooking; one is a budding artist. Another seems to be the most handsome and talkative of the group; others are shy. 

The mortar squad has several old M113 armored personnel carriers that have been repurposed to fire mortars. Basically, that means ripping out part of the back of the vehicle and putting the mortar inside, on a kind of swivel mount. 

The IDF has also recently rolled out Humvees with mortars in the back. These vehicles are much lighter than the M113, with a mechanical arm at the back that places the mortar tube on the ground to stabilize it. The tube is about as tall as a person. It’s heavy, and you can see why having an easy-to-use and fast Humvee would be a good way to move these weapons from place to place. 

As we walk around in the hot, dry desert, it’s clear how much heat is going to beat down on this unit as summer arrives. The guys have put up camouflage tarps, so they have shade. In one area there are tables with canned food. The food looks dusty – as though it’s been here a while.

One of the men beckons from beyond the tent and points to the front of one of the M113s. The M113 is a short, stout vehicle that looks like a vehicular version of an armadillo. At the front, the man points to what looks like several scratches. He says these vehicles were at Sufa on the morning of Oct. 7, and the terrorists shot them up. The guys then put sandbags over the damage. The M113 was supposed to be retired by the IDF, but the army has thousands, so it has found new uses for them. One is putting mortars in them.

Inside Gaza, the 12th Brigade is securing areas near Rafah City. The mortar men can help by dropping shells near junctions that might be exposed to sniper fire. Or they can lob them near houses suspected of being booby-trapped. 

This is important because the IDF has lost men entering booby-trapped houses in Gaza. When there is a gun battle or an ambush, the mortar battery can help drop shells to assist the troops, eliminate terrorists, or provide smoke to obscure movements.

That fateful day

The mortar team here has seen action in Gaza, but they keep coming back to discuss Oct. 7. They remember their fallen comrades whose names they have written on their unit’s flags and on one of the vehicles. 

They talk about the Battle of Sufa. The lonely outpost was attacked by Hamas and almost overrun on Oct. 7. A long battle succeeded in removing Hamas from the outpost as surviving soldiers sheltered within the post, and others came to help relieve them. Members of the elite Shayetet 13 played a key role in liberating the site.

“We got there the next day, and we saw parts of it burned and areas shot up and grenade marks and the AKs of the terrorists and graffiti of the terrorists and bodies,” recalls one of the Nahal mortar men. The soldiers got their mortars working and repaired the M113s that had been damaged. Then they went off to other fronts during the battles in November and December. In the winter, the ground in Gaza turned to mud from the rains. They suffered through the cold days and nights. 

“We are fighting a righteous war and a just war,” says one of the guys. “We didn’t think the war would go on and on for so long, but we will succeed,” another adds. “We will continue. We have our goal and role, and we need to bring back the hostages – and we have members who have fallen and were wounded in the war.”

The morale here is high. They are the salt of the earth, the soldiers on the line who are ready for anything. One wears a patch that reads “Mashiach.” These have become common during this war. They say they are ready. If the enemy changes tactics, they will change. 

The enemy is changing, it is seeking to carry out an insurgency in Gaza. On June 15, the IDF announced the deaths of eight soldiers killed in an attack on a Namer APC. Later, the death of two more soldiers was announced. These are tough losses.

These fighters have seen many parts of the Gaza war. They helped defend the Netzarim corridor. They fired on terrorists who popped up to attack the corridor which is south of Gaza City. The war is challenging. They discuss the phenomenon of terrorists using schools and civilian shelters. 

“The terrorists using schools and places like that. You can’t just strike those schools – and because of the global community, like the story of Shifa hospital.”

NOW, AS they sit near the Kerem Shalom crossing, they are intensely aware of the complexities here. They see the humanitarian aid trucks going into Gaza. They know Hamas is harming Gaza by creating the conditions for hunger. They also wonder if Israel will be embroiled in a war with Hezbollah in the future. 

“Lebanon is more complex, and the weather is more complex. The enemy there is more dangerous, and the logistics are more complex. And also there is the danger of anti-tank weapons,” says a soldier. 

What will these young men do next? Most of them are finishing their service now. They will be 21 years old. They expect to be serving in the reserves when they complete their mandatory service.

The war will go on and on. 